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[BW PSA] My Corona!

So, you’re probably home right now, going stir crazy or catching up on your video games/movies/books/etc. I’m stuck home as well.

Yaaaaaay, three months into the new decade and we already have a literal plague. At the start of the last decade, it was a major terrorist attack (in the US). It seems the current millennium is very bad at starting decades on a good foot.

Since you most likely have nothing better to do, let’s talk about the coronavirus. Because, fun fact: I work at NIH, which stands for the National Institutes of Health. I’m not a doctor or health professional, just a preservationist technician that likes to skulk about them for their candy. (I did the same when I worked at the Library of Congress and NIST, smarties tend to have bountiful snacks). If you think you’re getting bombarded with coronavirus (also called COVID-19) updates, imagine what my NIH inbox looks like since they are one of the many health institutions at the epicenter of all this. I mainly trust what I see from NIH over the news because, well, NIH is supposed to be one of the sources the news are supposed to be getting their info from.

Let’s get started with a funny video by Wavetro that is the basic run-down of what you should and shouldn’t do. Caution, there is swearing.

Okies! The basic gist:

Please wash your hands – hand sanitizer is not as effective as you think against viruses (they are generally pitched as anti-bacterial, not anti-viral, yes, there is a difference) – and wash them thoroughly

Avoid touching your face the best you can, germs can easily be transmitted through the mouth, nose and eyes. The average adult touches their face 30 times in an hour

STOP HOARDING TOILET PAPER AND MASKS – it’s not dysentery and the masks keeps germs in not out. Wear them if you are sick, not as a replacement for washing your hands. Plus, if you are not used to wearing a mask, it will make you touch your face more. Health professionals and patients need them most!

Do not panic-purchase and if you are a seller, do not price gouge (seriously! That’s super unethical and very against the law)

Wash your freaking hands

Sneeze/cough into your sleeve, not your hands

I always think of the scene from The Bernie Mac Show when it comes to germs transmission. It’s from the episode titled “Now you got it”, starts at 3:26:

It’s a great episode, I recommend watching it. Also, this is why everyone at NIH, the CDC and everywhere else sounds like this:

Complete with the shrill voice

So please, stay yourself in the house. Let’s stifle the spread of the virus and it’s not hordes of toilet paper you need, just wash your hands and sneeze or cough into your sleeve. Here is an actual poster I took a picture of at NIH:

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